Foul Weather Friends – The Wind has Returned

Maybe I shouldn’t have talked about the Halcyon Days? Our season of calm came early this year. For about the last week or so, our wind forecasts have fallen far short, or have been revised to more moderate wind speeds at the last minute. We’ve slowly drawn down our battery bank until every morning and evening we work by candle and oil lamp light. Aly commented yesterday that she’d become quite used to it, which is amazing, considering how eagerly she looks forward to movies. This morning we have a fresh gale from the south, the battery bank has charged all night, and we’re back in business, as it were. We’re scrambling to recharge headlamp batteries, cellphones, and anything else that’s run low on juice during the lull. And, of course, scrambling to get this posted for those who are kind enough to check the blog daily!

The current gale is no real surprise. I don’t track weather trends as closely as I would like, but my love for a “white Christmas” has familiarized me with the general mid-December weather trends for our region. I’ve observed that, whatever else we get weatherwise in this period, there is almost always a thaw on or around December 18. This is especially true for Juneau; here in the Haines area, it seems a bit less certain. Yesterday, the thaw came. The National Weather Service predicted a heavy snowstorm that would begin a general trend of snow through the rest of the forecast week, with the exception of a period of rain on the 17th. This thaw would almost certainly (and certainly did) produce significant wind. It’ll get iffy later today, thus the scramble. Besides recharging and blogs, Aly has been missing her online Chemistry lessons.

Part of my online work today will be to make a few minor tweaks to the blog. If a feature you rely on disappears, please let me know how you feel about it in the comments section. Thanks!

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